Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan – Review

At last, I felt emotionally invested in the characters and the plot finally got personal.

I love the books leave me a little breathless and a little incoherent. The ones that leave me reeling a little bit. While The Titan’s Curse didn’t start out anything like that, it certainly ended that way. It took me by surprise.

(Pssst… This is a review for the third book in the Percy Jackson series. You can find my reviews for the first and second ones here and here.)

While the story stayed relatively simple, more layers kept being added, whether that be through new discoveries, different relationship dynamics or tensions, new characters with their own goals in mind, or old characters’ depth being explored further. All in all, the stage finally feels set for a fantastic story.

But the best thing about it? That the momentously sassy Percy Jackson series found its heart. I finally felt pain for the characters, and as a reader, I find that pain to be imperative for a sense of connection with fictional people. I finally cared. And honestly, the difference between a good book and a great one (in my opinion) is just that. Connection. Pain. Caring. Once a reader is connected, there isn’t much ground to cover before they’re invested, and once they’re invested, all the author has to do is deliver, and boom. You’ve got a fantastic story. Indirectely, the pain becomes what’s necessary to drive a reader to reading. It’s what Six of Crows had, it’s what Red Queen had, it’s what Divergent had, it’s what Persuasion had. I’m pleased to say, it’s also what The Titan’s Curse had. A series can’t last, can’t even stand, without that often-looked-over element of pain that is so important for the strengthening of a series, and I’m excited to see what Riordan will do with it now that he’s tapped into the realm of the relational. 😉

Now for “The Stuff I Didn’t Like.”

In these first three books of the Percy Jackson series, I’ve consistently felt like something was lacking. It’s taken me a while to put a pin on it, but I think I’ve finally figured it out: there isn’t a strong/memorable villain. Now okay, I’ve fallen into this trap too. I can so easily overlook the role of the villain and brush them aside. I mean, we don’t really care about them, so why should they matter? But what’s Star Wars without Darth Vader? The Avengers without Loki? Never underestimate the power of the dark side…Like it or not, the villain(s) help to create the most memorable stories. The (apparent) lack of that facet in PJO has taken away from it for me, but I’m hoping that now that the conflict has become more personal, the villain will grow as well. We’ll see.

I’ve covered the series’ worldbuilding in the past, and I’m not going to repeat a lot of it, because it’s much of the same. The world doesn’t feel distinct or focused on much. It feels thrown together a little haphazardly, but that’s fine. It doesn’t take away from the story. (Unless you’re a worldbuilding snob like me. Otherwise you should be fine.)

But to end on a good note, I loved the growth in Rick Riordan’s writing here. There was a little more weight to it, which I appreciated. There’s more of a sense of what’s at stake here than in the previous books, and there was a little more drive. That’s not to say it loses it’s trademark sarcasm; Riordan remains ever the sass master. There’s just a better balance between gravity and humor. Very well done, if I do say so myself.

So what now? Here’s my final thoughts…

The Titan’s Curse was a pleasant sequel in the Percy Jackson series, even if it wasn’t all too thrilling. I enjoyed the introduction of new threads that I can’t wait to see tie together.I’m looking forward to continuing the series!

Is it okay for me to read?

Language • • • • •

A lot of joking about a dam they visit.

Violence• • • • •

Mild violence. Characters fight monsters and a supporting character dies in the process. A man falls off a cliff, though not much is said about his landing.